Pocono Spring Recap

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, finished 27th on Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.

The inclement weather affected qualifying on Friday afternoon so the starting grid was determined by the owner standings. Earnhardt lined up 18th for the 200-lap event. He reported early in the race to his team that his National Guard/AMP Energy Chevy's handling was slightly tight in the center and lacked grip on the slick racetrack.

On Lap 14 and during the second caution of the race, crew chief Lance McGrew decided to call Earnhardt in for a pit stop to loosen the No. 88 Chevy's handling. The team opted for four tires and fuel in addition to track bar and wedge adjustments. Earnhardt, who came into the pits running 16th, rejoined the field 15th at the restart on Lap 16.

Six laps later, Earnhardt radioed that the adjustments helped, but the car still needed more chassis adjustments to improve its handling on the 2.5-mile triangular track.

During the next 30 laps, Earnhardt made two more pit stops for chassis adjustments. By Lap 75 and after the second stop of that series, Earnhardt reported that the No. 88 Chevy felt significantly better and that the National Guard/AMP Energy team was taking steps in the right direction. At the halfway point, Earnhardt was running 19th.

Earnhardt continued to battle his way around the track for the remainder of the race until the checkered flag waved on Lap 200. Earnhardt finished 27th.

QUOTING LANCE McGREW:

McGREW (ON SUNDAY'S RACE AT POCONO.): "I felt like during the middle of the race we had something good to work with, kind of made some good changes, and he was running some really good competitive lap times. We were all happy. Then it just kind of went away at the two-thirds point of the race. We're building Rome here, and we're still working on the communication. We've just got to do a little better job of figuring out what the track is going to do the next day and make the appropriate changes the night before instead of trying to change it during the race. It'll come."